Folding gin pole for oil well mast



April 19, 1955 H. J. wooLsLAYER ETAL FOLDING GIN POLE FOR oIL WELL MAST2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Jan. 20, 1954 e, u 'i i w L Rn f 5 mwm@ m m N @maw M mx i mm, H

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 H. J. WOOLSLAYER ETAL FOLDING GIN POLE FOR OIL WELLMAST April 19, 1955 Filed Jan. 20, 1954 United States Patent O FOLDINGGIN POLE FOR OIL WELL MAST Horner J. Woolslayer, Cecil Jenkins, andCalvin L. Turner, Tulsa, Okla., and Erwin A. Campbell, Wexford, Pa.,assignors to Lee C. Moore Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation ofPennsylvania Application January 20, 1954, Serial No. 405,082

6 Claims. (Cl. 189--15) This invention relates to oil well mast ginpoles, and more particularly to a gin pole that is swung from areclining folded transportation position up to an erect spread operativeposition.

It is among the objects of this invention to provide a gin pole which inits folded reclining position extends in the same direction as thereclining mast associated with it, which can be raised to erectoperative position by connecting it with the traveling block of themast, and in which the front and back sides are automatically spread apredetermined distance apart as the gin pole is raised.

In accordance with this invention the front and rear sides of the ginpole are hinged together at the top to permit them to be folded togetherfrom spread position. The lower portion of one side of the gin pole ispivotally mounted above the base to permit the pole to be swung from afolded reclining position, in which that side is below the other side,up to erect position. Rigid means extend from the top of the other sideof the gin pole across the top of the pivoted side, and tension meansare connected to the projecting end of said rigid means and are anchorednear the base for automatically spreading the sides of the pole apart asit is swung up to erect position.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a fragmentary side view of a reclining mast and its support,showing the erected gin pole;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary front view of the gin pole taken onthe line lI-II of Fig. l; and

l-ig. 3 is an enlarged detail, taken on the line III-III Referring toFig. l of the drawings, each foot of a reclining mast 1 is pivotallymounted on a pin 2 in the lower part of a tall shoe 3 extending upwardfrom a base 4. The lower or front side of the mast is open and thetraveling block 5 rests on the catwalk 6 below it.

Pivotally mounted on a pin 7 in the upper end of each of the shoes isthe lower portion of one of the front legs 8 of a folding gin pole. Asshown in Fig. 2 the upper ends of the legs are rigidly connected by ahorizontal tubular member 9 and by a truss 10. Projecting downward at anangle from the tubular member behind the front legs are short plates 12that are pivotally mounted in the forked upper ends of the rear legs 13of the gin pole. The lower ends of the rear legs are removably mounted,by means of drive pins 14, in elevated shoes 16 supported on pedestals17 behind the drawworks 18 Extending forward from the outside of eachrear leg across the outside of the leg in front of it is a rigid arm 19,the front end of which carries a cross pin 20. Each pin extends througha longitudinal slot 22 in the upper end of a tension link 23 and engagesthe upper end of the slot. The forked lower end of the link is pivotallyconnected by a pin 24 to a projection on the front of one side of theunderlying shoe 3 near its top.

The lower end of each front leg of the gin pole extends downward asubstantial distance beyond its pivot pin 7 to a point behind theadjoining foot of the mast and is connected to one end of a line 26 thatextends forward under a small vertical sheave 27 and across a horizontalsheave 28 in the bottom of shoe 3, as shown in Fig. 3. The line betweenthe two horizontal sheaves extends forward and through the hook of thetraveling block 5.

In the drawings the gin pole is shown just after it gin pole.

has been raised by the traveling block, which has been pulled a shortdistance toward the head of the mast by the drilling line 30 thatextends from the drawworks 18 up and over the center sheave 31 on thegin pole and then forward to the crown block (not shown) and back to thetraveling block. The next step will be to disengage line 26 from thetraveling block and then continue pulling the block toward the head ofthe mast. This movement will swing the mast upward, because thetraveling block also is connected to a sling 32 which extends back uparound a pair of sheaves 33 on the gin pole and forward to anchor pointson the top of the reclining mast. In order that the traveling block maybe located close to base 4 for transportation, the sling preferablyextends from the block back around sheaves 34 in opposite sides of themast near its feet and then forward and up around another pair ofsheaves 35 in the mast. The sling does not become taut until the ginpole has been raised.

The way in which the gin pole was raised will now be described, startingwith its reclining position shown in broken lines in Fig. l. In thatposition the gin pole is folded and extends forward along the mast, onwhich it rests. The legs of the gin pole extend backward behind shoes 3,and the cross pins 20 carried by arms 19 are near the inner or lowerends of link slots 22. The traveling block is in substantially itsbroken line position. The drawworks then is started in operation tostart pulling the traveling block forward away from the foot of themast. As it moves forward, the block pulls on line 26 and thereby pullsthe rear or lower ends of the front feet of the gin pole down andforward toward the bottom of the shoes. This naturally swings theopposite end or head of the gin pole upward and backward. By the time ithas reached about a 45 angle, arm pins 20 will have reached the upperends of link slots 22 and will not be able to move any farther upwardrelative to the links. Consequently, further upward movement of the ginpole causes the rear ends of arms 19 to swing downward relative to thefront gin pole legs, and in doing so they swing the rear gin pole legsback away from the front legs. The link slots serve the purpose ofdelaying spreading of the gin pole legs until after the heavy work ofraising the gin pole is nearly completed. This spreading of the legscontinues until the back feet of the gin pole settle down into elevatedshoes 16. To avoid having those feet possibly slip out of the shoesbefore they have been pinned in place, the front shoes 3 may be providedwith internal transverse plates 37 which the lower portions of the ginpoles front legs engage when they have been swung forward the requireddistance.

It will be noted that the pressure of drilling line 30 against gin polesheave 31 tends to oppose raising of the Nevertheless, due to themechanical advantage of the line reeving, the erecting force exertedthrough line 26 prevails. When the gin pole has been raised far enoughfor gravity to tend to swing it the rest of the way back, the lower endsof the front gin pole legs will have reached a position where thepurchase of line 26 about pivot pins 7 will become relatively small andthence progressively smaller so that the restraining effect of line 30will be dominant. That line then ca n be slacked oi to control backwardand downward swinging of the gin pole to iinal position, where pins 14can be driven into place.

To lower the gin pole to reclining transportation position, line 26 isreattached to the traveling block after the mast has been lowered. Thenpins 14 are removed and the head of the gin pole is pulled forward byauxiliary means, such as a line (not shown) connected to a truck orextending around a snatch block on the mast and then back to cathead 38.As soon as the gin pole has been swung forward far enough for gravity totake effect, drilling line 30 is paid out to permit the weight of thegin pole to lower it. The lowering is controlled by the traveling block,which is dragged toward base 4 by line 26 as the lower ends of the frontgin pole legs swing backward and upward.

According to the provisions of the patent statutes, we have explainedthe principle of our invention and have illustrated and described whatwe now consider to represent its best embodiment. However, we desire tohave it understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, theinvention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustratedand described.

We claim:

l. A gin pole structure comprising a base, a gin pole provided withfront and rear sides hinged together at the top to permit them to befolded together from a spread position, means on the base pivotallysupporting the lower portion of one side of the gin pole to permit thepole to be swung from a folded reclining position, in which said side isbelow the other side, up to erect position, rigid means rigidlyconnected to and extending from the top of said other side looselyacross the top of said pivoted side, and tension means anchored nearsaid lower portion and connected to the projecting end of said rigidmeans for restraining the latter to automatically spread said sides ofthe pole apart as it is swung up into erect position.

2. A gin pole structure in which a gin pole is adapted to be swung froma reclining folded position up to upright open position, comprising abase, front and back gin pole legs above the base hinged together attheir upper ends and temporarily reclining in superimposed relation toform upper and lower legs having their fee't near each other, supportingmeans mounted on the base pivotally supporting the lower legs near theirfeet but spaced from those feet to leave short leg portions projectingfrom one side of said means, the legs being supported above the base farenough to permit said leg portions to be swung down to verticalposition, means for pulling the feet of the lower legs down toward saidsupporting means to swing the hinged ends of the legs upward, rigidmeans rigidly connected to and extending from the top of the upper legsloosely across the top of the lower legs, and tension means anchorednear said short leg portions and connected to the projecting end of saidrigid means for swinging the front and back feet of the legs away fromeach other as the gin pole is raised.

3. A gin pole structure in which a gin pole is adapted to be swung froma reclining folded position up to upright open position, comprising abase, front and back gin pole legs above the base hinged together attheir upper ends and temporarily reclining in superimposed relation toform upper and lower legs having their feet near each other, supportingmeans mounted on the base pivotally supporting the lower legs near theirfeet but spaced from those feet to leave short leg portions projectingfrom one side of said means, the legs being supported above the base farenough to permit said leg por.- tions to be swung down to verticalposition, means for pulling the feet of the lower legs down toward saidsupporting means to swing the hinged ends of the legs upward, rigidmeans extending from the top of the upper legs across the top of thelower legs, a link having one end pivotally connected to the projectingend of said rigid means, and means pivotally supporting the opposite endof thc link near said short leg portions, whereby the front and backfeet of the legs will be swung away from each other as the gin pole israised.

4. A gin pole structure in which a gin pole is adapted to be swung froma reclining folded position up to upright open position, comprising abase, front and back gin pole legs above the base hinged together attheir upper ends and temporarily reclining in superimposed relation toform upper and lower legs having their feet near each other, supportingmeans mounted on the base pivotally supporting the lower legs near theirfeet but spaced from those feet to leave short leg portions projectingfrom one side of said means, the legs being supported above the base farenough to permit said leg portions to be swung down to verticalposition, means for pulling the feet of the lower legs down toward saidsupporting means to swing the hinged ends of the legs upward, rigidmeans extending from the top of the upper legs across the top of thelower legs, a link having a slotted end pivotally and slidably connectedto the projecting end of said rigid means, and means pivotallyconnecting the opposite end of the link to said supporting means.

5. The combination with a base, drawworks mounted on the base, areclining oil well drilling mast, means hinging the foot of the mast tothe base in front of the drawworks, a traveling block near the foot ofthe mast, and a drilling line connecting the block with the head of themast and then extending back above the mast to the drawworks; of frontand back gin pole legs above said means hinged together at their upperends and temporarily reclining in superimposed relation on the mast withtheir feet near each other, a sheave carried by the upper ends of saidlegs and supporting said line, supporting means mounted on the basepivotally supporting the lower reclining legs near their feet but spacedfrom those feet to leave short leg portions projecting from the side ofsaid supporting means opposite to the mast, the legs being supportedabove the base far enough to permit said leg portions to be swung downto vertical position, a line connected to the feet of the lower legs andto said traveling block, whereby when the drawworks causes the drillingline to pull the traveling block toward the head of the mast thelast-mentioned feet will be pulled down toward said supporting means toswing the hinged ends of the legs upward, and means automaticallyswinging the front and back feet of the legs away from each other as thegin pole is raised against the resistance of the drilling line engagingsaid sheave.

6. A gin pole structure comprising a base, a gin pole provided withfront and rear sides hinged together at the top to permit them to befolded together from a spread position, means on the base pivotallysupporting the lowerportion of one side of the gin pole to permit thepole to be swung from a folded reclining position, in which said side isbelow the other side, up to erect position, rigid means rigidlyconnected to the top of said other sideand extending from it looselyacross the top of said pivoted side, a link having one end pivotallyconnected to the projecting end of said rigid means, and means pivotallysupporting the opposite end of the link near said lower portion, wherebythe front and back sides of the gin pole will be swung away from eachother as the gin pole is swung up into erect position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS495,662 Brown Apr. 18, 1893 2,503,604 Woolslayer et al. Apr. 1l, 19502,680,525 Weatherby June 8, 1954

